Review

Review Summary: With Ever After, Canada's Marianas Trench join the ranks of pop-rock acts Green Day and My Chemical Romance to successfully bring a theatrical epic destined to reign supreme in the ears of all mainstream audiences, fans, and critics alike.

All the things that would seemingly sink this fuckin' ship into the water for any other band: stark studio prevalence – a swabbing of strings, digital effects, vocal tampering, and even more strings; a more pop-oriented bend from Marianas Trench – every song here can be a single, and a damn successful one too; and lastly Josh Ramsay's vocals in general – the guy's voice is so sugary sweet it almost isn't even suitable to lead a pop-rock act.

Yet Ever After is indubitably Marianas Trench's best album.

Ever After runs through its fifty-minute play time like a pop-music freight train, the likes of which we haven't heard from a pop-rock band since My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade in 2006. It's almost like all The Cab's excesses heard earlier this year on their Symphony Soldier are smoothed out and kept in line with their target by the keen sights of a melodic craftsman such as the likes of One Republic's Ryan Tedder, or something. As far as pop rock goes in 2011, you will not find better songwriting anywhere else.

Continuing the path taken by the Canadians on their last 2009 release, Masterpiece Theatre, Marianas Trench start Ever After with a multi-part epic in its title track, mixing a memorable key melody with that of vocal, instrumental melodies and harmonies taken from the proceeding tracks to come later on during the album. With a keen sense of finesse, the band creeps in synth pulses to flawlessly lead into the album's lead single, “Haven't Had Enough”, an effort that was first off-putting to many fans given the band's past reliance on distorted guitars.

But here's something you'll learn about Marianas Trench while enjoying the near-flawless pop tracks of Ever After: fuck distortion. They should be a pop band; they have never sounded more comfortable in an element before. And even if the rock-outs are few and far in between, the strength of the surrounding songwriting is more than enough to justify the stadium-size reception the album is likely to receive in the coming months. Not since Fall Out Boy's Infinity On High has pop rock been so fun and consistent as well.

The use of the “Oh, Oh, Oh”(s) is a cliché practice in pop rock, and few bands can really do it well anymore. But, indeed, Marianas Trench have proven to be one of them: “Desperate Measures” and “Stutter” are going to be massive hits, already both housing addictive-as-hell choruses to begin with. These fuckin' harmonies are ingenious and are the output of master pop craftsmen. “By Now” hits like Fall Out Boy's “This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race” in ballad-form, Ramsay riding a repetive synth note like a boss: “Sometimes the one you want is not the one you need / What goes around don't come around.”

“Porcelain” is Marianas Trench's successful shot at Coldplay's “Fix You”, “B Team” the band's declarative statement of more or less being the new Fall Out Boy in sound and composition – Ever After is just fucking unstoppable. “No Place Like Home” closes the album in a similar fashion to which it was opened, quoting key sections of the hit-in-the-making, just like all the other songs, “Truth or Dare”.

The story behind Ever After follows a man who wakes up in a mysterious land where an evil queen is trying to still hearts, or something like that – hence a song title like “Toy Soldiers”. But really, just like My Chemical Romance's recent back stories, you need not pay the story any mind. A common theme merely helps the album flow in and out of itself perfectly; lyrically, this is still about relationship matters, and you could easily listen to the whole thing over and over and never get any hint of a story.

But that's okay, as where the music is concerned, Marianas Trench nail it home just about perfectly on Ever After. Take this as you will, but if they keep it up we may indeed have the next Fall Out Boy on our hands. It will be interesting to see just how far this band will go.

I'm going to be honest here, you have for sure listened to the album a few times and i agree with the majority of what your saying, however i find that you are constantly refering to the same bands and not a wider variety. I would also happen to disagree with Marianas Trench being the next Fall Out Boy. I personally don't find FOB to be of the pop genre but thats entirely my opinion. Overall i think you did a really fantastic job going over the whole album. Kudos.

however i find that you are constantly refering to the same bands and not a wider variety.

Criticism noted, and I agree. I'm kind of new to this side of music, but from what I've heard, these guys seem to be the best at playing it, especially with this album. Thanks, and I'll try to expand my palette of band references in the future. I'm glad you love the album, too.

Yeah I also miss 2009 on this site. Everyday life-wise though, I'm waiting for 2011 to end already because whatever 2012 may bring, it just can't be as vacuous as the latter half of this year has been for me.